


... And Always Shall Be

by RowanSparrow



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But focuses on the clones, Cody is Rescued from the Empire, FIx It, M/M, Set during Rebels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 09:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15838344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RowanSparrow/pseuds/RowanSparrow
Summary: Captain Rex has one goal: Rescue the former Commander Cody from the clutches of the Galactic Empire. This is easier said than done.





	... And Always Shall Be

It didn’t matter how much time had passed. It didn’t matter that Cody hadn’t listened to him. It didn’t matter that there was a chip in his best friend’s head enslaving him to an evil he’d been born to fight against, only to discover he’d been born to _betray._ Captain Rex kept telling himself that.

 _Not Captain._ He reminded himself again. _Not Anymore._

He closed his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his face, feeling the bristle of his beard scruff against his palm, and he sighed. He was getting _old._ Clones weren’t supposed to get _old._

Wolffe poked his head in the room. His hair had gone grey long ago, only a few spots of black left in his hair, giving it a sort of textured look. He had the beginnings of a moustache beginning to form around his lips. The look suited him.

“Rex?” He asked softly, interrupting Rex’s quiet thoughts. “We’ve got him.”

Rex blinked slowly, rubbing his hands over his face one last time before pushing himself tiredly to his feet. “Where?” He asked.

“He was in the village, with a battalion of other troopers. They were patrolling for Jedi.” Wolffe explained. “Gregor brought him back alive. The others weren’t so lucky.” Wolffe’s lip curled in a look Rex wasn’t quick enough to analyze before it was gone again.

Rex nodded seriously, picking up his blaster pistols off the table and tucking them into the holsters hanging loosely off his hips before following the former Commander out of the room.

~

If Rex thought the past few months after escaping Order 66 were rough, it was nothing compared to what it had obviously done to his _vod_.

Commander Cody – _not Commander, Rex. Not Commander anymore –_ looked harrowed and worn. There were dark circles under his eyes, and fresh scars jutting out of his blacks across his exposed skin. His armor looked rough as well, more so than Rex had ever seen it. Cody had always been one to take care of his armor, but his clinically white armor was beaten down and worn out, almost grey at this point. Cody looked up when Rex and Wolffe entered, but his eyes seemed to pass right through them, looking at them but not quite seeing them.

The former Commander was kneeling on the ground, his hands bound by the wrists behind his back. Gregor was standing just behind him, his blaster aimed at his head.

“Lower your weapon, Gregor.” Rex commanded quietly, stepping fully into the room. Gregor bristled, only lowering his blaster a fraction of an inch. Wolffe sighed quietly, circling around Rex and instead over to Gregor, Cody’s phantom eyes tracking his movements like a hunter, like a beast.

“Put it down.” Wolffe ordered quietly, resting a hand on the blaster and slowly pushing it downward until Gregor finally relented, lowering his blaster and stepping aside, leaning against the wall of the far side of the room. Rex stepped forward, dropping to a crouch a few feet away from Cody.

“Cody…” He murmured, looking over his old friend mournfully. “Look what they’ve done to you, brother.”

Cody didn’t react to the words, his mouth slightly slack jawed as he stared emptily at Rex.

“You don’t have to be afraid anymore, Cody.” Rex soothed gently, reaching for him. “There’s a chip in your head, brother. We’re going to get it out of you, I -.”

“Stop calling me that.”

Cody’s suddenly sharp voice startled Rex, and Gregor pushed himself off the wall warningly before Wolffe touched his bicep, easing him down.

“That’s your name, Cody.” Rex repeated. “Your _name_.”

“I don’t have a name, rebel scum.” Cody spat, lips curling back from his teeth in an almost feral look.

“What do they call you, then?” Rex asked quietly, folding his hands in front of him. Cody was silent, teeth bared in a silent growl. Rex sighed again. “Cody-.”

“You won’t get anything out of me.” Cody spoke over him, eyes ablaze. “You won’t. Might as well kill me. If you don’t, they will.” He chuckled humorlessly, pulling back slightly and blinking slowly at Rex. “Might as well.” He repeated, his eyes glazing over again. Rex turned to Wolffe.

“Do we still have the droid?” He asked softly. Wolffe nodded in confirmation.

“We’ll have to get him back there first, get him out of his armor.” Wolffe replied, looking over Cody apprehensively. “Good luck with that.”

Rex’s face dropped into a slight scowl, and he looked back to Cody, taking a cautious step forward. “Listen, brother.” He attempted to get through to him once again. “We are all going to help you. We’re going to get you your life back, your mind. I promise.”

“My allegiance is to the Empire.” Cody replied, his voice thin. “There’s nothing you can do to corrupt me, rebel scum.” The words sounded canned, like a script, and Rex felt a chill crawl up his spine. For not the first time, he found himself silently praising ARC Trooper Fives, who’d spared him from this fate so long ago. _If you’d just tried harder to convince Cody, he wouldn’t be this way. You should’ve tried harder, Rex. This is your fault. This is all your -._

“Rex?” Wolffe prompted, a hand falling to his shoulder. “Easy, _vod_. You’re spacing out on us a bit. Remember where you are.”

Rex shook himself out of his stupor, nodding once. “Right. Let’s…” He turned once more to Cody, sighing softly. “You know what to do.”

Part of Rex was hoping Cody would fight back when Gregor held him still as Wolffe injected a tranquilizer into his neck. If he fought back, that meant some of the brother Rex remembered was still in there somewhere. But Cody didn’t fight back. He barely even blinked as the other two exiled soldiers held him down and knocked him out, his glassy eyes fading until they drifted close. He barely made a sound.

~

Back when they had first escaped the fall of the Republic, Wolffe and Rex had commandeered an old medical frigate in their attempt to flee, and had saved a lot of the medical droids from on board. It had taken some tinkering, but they were at the point now where they could tell the droids what to do, and had given them scans of the tumor chips that had been implanted in both Wolffe and Rex’s brains.

“You know, there’s a chance this isn’t going to work.” Wolffe warned as Gregor and Wolffe deposited Cody on the table in the back of the ship, strapping him down in case he woke after the procedure. “He may have been in there too long, Rex. You saw how he looked, what’s been done to him. He’s practically a flesh droid at this point.”

“Or he could die.” Gregor offered with a shrug. “We don’t know if these droids will even do the job right.”

“I’m well aware of the risks.” Rex replied, folding his arms determinedly over his chest. Wolffe narrowed his eyes at him.

“You know what we have to do if this doesn’t work.” His voice was quiet, dark, foreboding. “Is that something you’re prepared to do, Captain?”

_Not Captain._

“Of course.” Rex replied after a beat. “I’ll do what needs to be done.”

_Not anymore._

Wolffe nodded, and the droids began their work on Cody.

Truthfully, the procedure itself didn’t take very long, though it was a little disturbing to watch, especially when the surgery was being performed on a man with the same face. What took a while was the slow, agonizing wait to see if Cody would even wake up from the procedure. The effects of the tranquilizer should’ve worn off by now, Rex thought. Though still, Cody did not stir from his spot on the table.

“It may be awhile, Rex.” Wolffe murmured after some time. “Think maybe you should get some rest?”

“I’m not leaving.” Rex said firmly. “I spent… I spent far too long trying to get him back. I’m not going to walk away from him now.”

Gregor made a soft sound under his breath, and Wolffe shot him a look, motioning for the other man to follow him out, leaving Rex and Cody relatively alone.

Rex sighed, kneading the heel of his hand into his eyes, trying to stem the growing headache. Whether it was from stress, exhaustion, or some combination of the two, he wasn’t quite sure.

Rex sat with his head in his hands like that for what seemed like hours, waiting for Cody to wake up, when finally, he heard a soft sigh from the table.

Rex jerked his head up at the sound, rising to his feet so quickly he knocked over the chair he’d been sitting in. “Cody?” He asked hopefully, leaning over Cody’s prostrate form.

Cody’s eyes were heavy, his jaw slack, but slowly, very slowly, his eyes peeled open. He immediately shied away from the lights overhead, squeezing his eyes shut tighter as he shifted his head slightly to the side.

“Easy,” Rex soothed, cupping Cody’s face in one hand and tilting it back towards him. “Easy, Cody. You’re alright.”

Cody’s eyes blinked open again, looking up at Rex, the soft golden brown of his eyes catching in the light. “Rex?” He asked softly, throat dry and scratchy. For a moment, Rex thought he might’ve collapsed with relief. He settled instead for closing his eyes and smiling, thanking whatever deity or Force or whoever was out there listening. Cody was alive. Cody remembered him.

“Yeah.” Rex nodded, dropping his forehead to rest against Cody’s. “Yeah, _vod._ I’m here.”

Cody tried to lift a hand to touch Rex, only to find he was restrained. “What’s going on?” He asked quietly, his voice clearing slightly. “Why-.” He cut off abruptly, his mouth falling open in a silent “O” of horror. “Oh… Oh F-Force, Rex. I shot the General. Rex, I shot at General Kenobi!” Cody whispered, his voice panic stricken as he struggled against his restraints. “I killed – I killed Jedi, I killed _people,_ I can remember them all, Rex, I -.”

“Hey, hey,” Rex soothed, quickly loosening his straps and instead pulling the commander into his arms. “Listen to me, you’re safe now, it’s alright. It wasn’t you, Cody. None of it was you. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I killed them, Rex.” Cody rasped, clinging to Rex. “I killed… so many people.”

“I know, _vod._ I know.”

Rex held the trembling soldier, rubbing his fingers soothingly between Cody’s shoulder blades. “General Kenobi… did I -?”

“No.” Rex said firmly. “There are … rumors. He made it out alive.” Rex told Cody. “You didn’t kill him, Cody.”

Cody looked relieved, but only for a moment before he effectively caved in on himself again. “What have we done? What have _I_ done?” He whispered. “I should’ve listened to you, Rex. I should’ve kriffin’ listened to you, you tried to warn me, you tried to tell me, you tried-.”

“Cody, listen to me.” Rex told him, cupping his face in his hands. “That doesn’t matter anymore. None of that matters anymore. The only thing that’s important now is that you’re alive. We got you out.” Rex smiled, tracing Cody’s scar with his thumb. “And that’s one less blaster for the Empire, and one more brave heart beating for the Rebellion.”

Cody swallowed roughly, and Rex thought he’d never seen Cody look so scared. “I feel…” He couldn’t put it into words, gesturing helplessly at his own head. “Disconnected. Empty. _Lost._ ” He tried.

“I know.” Rex nodded. “It gets better with time. You’ll be alright, Cody.”

“Are we the only ones left?” He whispered. “Little Gods, we _can’t_ be the only ones left.”

“Wolffe escaped.” Rex told him. “He’s in the other room. And we found Gregor. We all thought he was dead, remember?”

Cody nodded vaguely, though Rex guessed he wasn’t really absorbing any of it. “That’s all?” he whispered. Rex nodded grimly.

“There may be more, but for now, it’s just us.” Rex told him softly, squeezing his hand and helping Cody sit up.

“I…” Cody trailed off, holding his head with one hand. Rex studied him knowingly.

“Would you like to see them?” he offered. Cody nodded quickly.

“Yes. Yes, very much so.” He whispered, swallowing roughly. Cody pushed himself to his feet, blinking in surprise as his bare feet hit the floor, but he recovered quickly. He squared his shoulders, clearing his throat and looking at Rex. For just a moment, Rex could have almost pretended they were back on the _Triumphant_ , preparing for another battle together.

“Lead the way, Captain.” Cody told him quietly. Rex opened his mouth, then let it fall closed.

_You’re a Captain._

Rex nodded slowly, taking Cody’s hand and squeezing it once. “With pleasure… Commander.”

_It’s in your blood._

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written as a giveaway prize on my tumblr. Follow me @rowansparrow-writing for more great star wars content!!


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